Books like The Arabian nightmare by Robert Irwin

An ancient Greek tale of transformation and magic in the form of a classic novel and translation.

The book of The Arabian Nights has become a synonym for the fabulous and the exotic. Every child is familiar with the stories of Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor and Ali Baba. Yet very few people, even specialists in oriental literature, have a clear idea of when the book was written or what exactly it is. Far from being a batch of stories for children, The Arabian Nights contains hundreds of narratives of all kinds - fables, epics, erotica, debates, fairy tales, political allegories, mystical anecdotes and comedies. It is a labyrinth of stories and of stories within stories and of stories within stories within stories. Widely held in contempt in the Middle East for its frivolity and occasional obscenity, the Nights has nevertheless had a major influence on European and American culture, to the extent that the story collection must be considered as a key work in Western literature. A full understanding of the writings of Voltaire, Dickens, Melville, Proost and Borges, or indeed of the origins of science fiction, is impossible without some familiarity with the stories of the Nights. The Arabian Nights: A Companion guides the reader into this labyrinth of storytelling. It traces the development of the stories from prehistoric India and Pharaonic Egypt to modern times. It explores the history of the translation, and explains the ways in which its contents have been added to, plagiarized and imitated. Above all, the Companion uses the stories as a guide to the social history and the counter-culture of the medieval Near East and the world of the storyteller, the snake-charmer, the burglar, the sorcerer, the drug-addict, the treasure hunter and the adulterer.

A second novel by author Paul Monette explores the complexities of friendship and the search for buried treasure.

Margaret Maron's mystery, Slow Dollar, follows fictional judge Deborah Knott as she navigates a North Carolina case that turns to the intrigue of a circus.

Vicky Bliss, the brilliant art‑historian turned sleuth, returns to Egypt’s Valley of the Kings to untangle a daring theft, a cryptic ransom, and a murder, while her own partner’s innocence is called into question.

Gertrude Bell’s 1905 journey through the Syrian Desert—from Jericho to Antioch—offers a vivid, first‑hand account of a distant land, its nomadic tribes, and the complex social fabric of early‑20th‑century Arabia.

A literary thriller about two men living in a world of fiction, words, scenes, characters, and the New York Times bestseller list, featuring a complex plot involving deception, envy, and the power of the written word.

Travis McGee investigates the disappearance of Maureen Trescott, a troubled young woman who attempts to kill herself multiple times. The protagonist must unravel the mystery of her past and prevent her from taking her own life.

Magic and marvels await you in Tales from the Arabian Nights, a collection of twenty of the best-known stories from the book that western readers have known for over three centuries as The Arbian Nights. First collected nearly a thousand years ago, these folktales are presented as narratives that crafty Scheharazade tells her husband, Shahryar, the King of Persia, over a thousand-and-one consecutive nights, to pique his interest for the next evening's entertainment and thereby save her life. Among them are some of the best-known legends of eastern storytelling, including the tales Sinbad the Sailor, Aladdin and His Magic Lamp, and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. This collection features the classic translation by Sir Richard Burton, published between 1884 and 1886. In these fantastic adventures, humans cower before monstrous Jinni, the incautious are prey to ravenous Ghouls, flying carpets transport riders to magic realms, hidden caverns yield caches of precious jewels and coins, and wishes are magically granted. The just are rewarded, the evil are punished, the poor are enriched, the lost are found, and lovers marry their perfect mates.

Andrew Lang’s compilation of twenty classic Arabian tales—such as Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor, and The Forty Thieves—offers readers timeless stories of adventure, magic, and Folklore from Arab lands.